Energy Research Institute @ NTU (ERI@N)

Established in 2010, ERI@N is NTU's energy institute and Singapore's most systems-oriented power decarbonisation research base. ERI@N focuses on cutting-edge innovations, research translation, strategic partnerships, and industry collaboration to accelerate decarbonisation and sustainable energy transition. Its defining characteristic is scale of integration: rather than pursuing single technologies, it focuses on systems-level research for tropical megacities, drawing expertise from across the university and translating outcomes into industry practice.

For the Decarbonisation Grand Challenge, ERI@N's strongest relevance is in Future Power Grid Solutions and Energy Storage. The institute works across energy storage, renewable energy integration and distributed energy resources. ERI@N’s Electrification and Power Grids Centre (EPGC) facility gives industry and research partners access to grid and power equipment for testing at meaningful scale. Its flagship programmes focus on system level integration and test-bedding towards real world applications.

ERI@N also holds substantial battery capability. Through the Singapore Battery Pack Programme, the team has developed capabilities in battery module design and prototyping for diverse applications, including the design and development of a 100kWh battery pack. ERI@N also operates a joint laboratory with Durapower ↗ (opens in new tab), equipped with an industrial-scale battery prototype production line to advance lithium battery fabrication and manufacturing processes. The facility supports the translation of laboratory-scale innovations into manufacturable battery prototypes.

To address rising challenges in critical material demand for energy transition, ERI@N (through SCARCE ↗ (opens in new tab), a joint laboratory with CEA of France ↗ (opens in new tab) supported by NEA) have developed and are now scaling processes for electrical and electronic waste (e-waste), such as discarded lithium-ion batteries, silicon solar panels and printed circuit boards. SCARCE also explores advanced separation and extraction processes of e-waste which are less energy intensive and toxic as compared to current practices, and aims to develop innovative and energy efficient solutions to recycle and recover e-waste.

The institute's structure is built for translation, combining interdisciplinary research programmes, flagship programmes, an accelerator programme for start-ups and SMEs (ERI@N-Energy Centre of Innovation), and a standards development function. It demonstrates technologies at life-scale rather than stopping at prototype, including through overseas testbeds: In Indonesia, the Renewable Energy Integration Demonstrator of Indonesia (REIDI) is a living laboratory for renewable energy technologies; Building on this experience, a five-year collaboration in Odisha, India covers pilots in microgrids, energy storage, agrivoltaics and waste-to-resource.